When a person is injured in a remote location, rescue workers often are required to hand carry the person on a stretcher to a location where an ambulance or helicopter can be reached. This is particularly true in remote locations consisting of rough terrain such as mountains, and in such circumstances the injured person would be exposed to the elements until the emergency rescue vehicle could be reached. A patient rescue bag for this purpose is described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,604, issued Feb. 7, 1995, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Since that time, rescue bags of this design have been put to use in increasingly hostile environments, such as by the military. In these situations, an injured person may have to be held at one location for a significant period of time during wet weather until it is safe for a transport vehicle to arrive on the scene. They may also be more likely, in these situations, to be held close to an evacuation helicopter's landing place directly below the propeller downdraft and to be present during the helicopter's landing.
Referring to FIG. 1, therein is schematically shown a cross-sectional view of a prior art design of a patient rescue bag commonly in use by civilian rescue and evacuation teams. This design, as shown in my above-referenced prior patent, keeps the patient warm while providing access to any part of the patient's body around any part of the perimeter of the rescue bag. However, if it is necessary for the patient to remain exposed to wet weather conditions, precipitation (rain or snow) falling onto the upper layer can seep into the interior of the bag through the quick connect/disconnect fastener devices along the longitudinal edges of the bag. This problem can be exacerbated when the patient is exposed to the extremely powerful downdraft of a military rescue helicopter.
While my prior design is acceptable for most civilian applications, a new design addressing specific shortcomings for military or extreme wet weather situations was needed. Subsequent designs by others have not, heretofore, filled this need.